A fishing or similar other kind of boat conventionally is transported by means of a vehicle-drawn trailer on which the boat is removably supported. Conventionally the trailer is provided with a winch around which is trained a cable terminating at its free end in a hook that is adapted to be coupled to and removed from a ring fixed to the bow of the boat. Usually, the trailer on which a boat is supported during transport is backed along a ramp into a lake or stream to a depth sufficient to enable the boat to be floated off the trailer. Difficulty rarely, if ever, is encountered in floating a boat off its trailer. However, when the boat is to be returned to the trailer, it is necessary to attach the winch cable to the boat before the boat is drawn onto the trailer.
The winch cable conventionally has a hook at its free end that is adapted to be fitted to a ring or cleat fixed to the bow of the boat so as to enable the boat to be secured to the cable, following which the winch may be activated to wind the cable around the winch drum and thereby move the boat toward and onto the trailer.
Difficulty often is experienced in attaching the cable hook to the bow ring or cleat. Quite often the person seeking to return the boat to the trailer is unassisted and must either wade into the water or stand upon the trailer in a position to attach the cable hook to the ring or cleat. Often it is inconvenient or uncomfortable to wade into the water and it is not uncommon for a person standing on a trailer and reaching for the bow ring to slip and fall into the water.
Apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention is particularly useful in attaching a winch cable hook to the bow ring of a boat preparatory to moving such boat onto a trailer and without requiring the operator to wade or risk falling off the trailer.